Inside The Bills

Rookie QB EJ Manuel missed the final two games of the season, but before he did, the analytics experts at Pro Football Focus say he showed signs of improvement.

PFF Analyst Steve Palazzolo appeared on The John Murphy Show Monday night and discussed Manuel’s rookie campaign, among other topics.

The PFF.com numbers put Manuel near the bottom of regular NFL quarterbacks. But Palazzolo says the numbers show the rookie quarterback had three of his four best games near the end of the season (vs Jets, vs. Falcons, and at Jacksonville).

“You want to see instant success but realistically, what you need to see is improvement,” Palazzolo said. “I thought we saw a little bit of improvement from Manuel after a slow start.”

“I think the scouting report on Manuel coming out was that he may need some time to develop,” he told host John Murphy. “I don’t think it’s overly surprising that he graded poorly. But he had some of his better games in three of his last four games, those were his best efforts.”

Palazzolo believes Manuel’s strong finish bodes well for the quarterbacks second year in the league.

“I thought it was an encouraging sign that he did play a little bit better against the Jets the second time around, against Atlanta, and against Jacksonville. There’s definitely a lot of room for improvement. But it’s good to see the arrow pointing up towards the end of the season.”

The entire interview with Steve Palazzolo of Pro Football Focus is available here